Category Archives: Free Palestine

Emergency Gaza Protest!

SATURDAY Nov. 17th @4pm

There will be an emergency Gaza protest on Saturday November 17th at 4pm at the South Carolina Statehouse.

Demonstrators call on President Obama, Israel, Hamas to end escalating violence & a ceasefire in Gaza!

Escalating violence in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants took a decided turn for the worse on Wednesday as Israel broke a tenuous truce and assassinated Hamas military commander Ahmed Jabari in a string of airstrikes in Gaza. Hamas and Palestinian militant groups have retaliated by firing rockets deep into Israel, including at Tel Aviv. Over twenty Palestinians including children have been killed in the ensuing Israeli airstrikes and; three Israeli civilians were killed when rockets launched by Palestinian militants struck an apartment in Israel, the first Israeli civilian fatalities from rocket attacks this year. Israeli troops are massing on the border with Gaza and a ground invasion.

“It is well-known that Israel’s targeted killings of Palestinian militants in Gaza provoke rocket attacks in retaliation,” says President David Matos, who has traveled to Israel/Palestine twice on peace missions. “Israel deliberately escalated the violence by carrying out this targeted assassination .” At the same time, Matos notes that “an all out war in Gaza will be literal murder on both Israeli and Palestinian civilians caught in the cross-fire; it will take de-escalation on both sides to avoid that disaster.”

While the parties on the ground must de-escalate to avert further bloodshed, the US has considerable influence over Israel via the over $3 billion in military aid the US furnishes Israel every year.

“We call on President Obama to pressure Israel to stop its escalations and step back from the brink of war,” says Matos. “If President Obama goes along with more violence, blood will be on his hands.”

Institute for Middle East Understanding Timeline of Escalating Violence~

My grieved country,
In a flash
You changed me from a poet who wrote love poems
To a poet who writes with a knife.

What we feel is beyond words:
We should be ashamed of our poems.

Stirred
By Oriental bombast,
By Antartic (Antar, pre-Islamic poet & hero that was a symbol of an uneaten knight) swaggering that never killed a fly,
By the fiddle and the drum,
We went to war
And lost.

Our shouting is louder than our actions,
Our swords are taller than us,
This is our tragedy.

In short
We wear the cape of civilization
But our souls live in the stone age.

You don’t win a war
With a reed and a flute.

Our impatience
Cost us fifty thousand new tents.

Don’t curse heaven
If it abandons you,
Don’t curse circumstances.
God gives victory to whom He wishes.
God is not a blacksmith to beat swords.

It’s painful to listen to the news in the morning.
It’s painful to listen to the barking of dogs.

Our enemies did not cross the border
They crept through our weakness like ants.

Five thousand years
Growing beards
In our caves.
Our currency is unknown,
Our eyes are a haven for flies.
Friends,
Smash the doors,
Wash your brains,
Wash your clothes.
Friends,
Read a book,
Write a book,
Grow words, pomegranates and grapes,
Sail to the country of fog and snow.
Nobody knows you exist in caves.
People take you for a breed of mongrels.

We are thick-skinned people
With empty souls.
We spend our days practicing witchcraft,
Playing chess and sleeping.
And we the ‘Nation by which God blessed mankind’?

Our desert oil could have become
Daggers of flame and fire.
We’re a disgrace to our noble ancestors:
We let our oil flow through the toes of whores.

We run wildly through streets
Dragging people with ropes,
Smashing windows and locks.
We praise like frogs,
Swear like frogs,
Turn midgets into heroes,
And heroes into scum:
We never stop and think.
In mosques
We crouch idly,
Write poems,
Proverbs
And beg God for victory
Over our enemy.

If I knew I’d come to no harm,
And could see the Sultan,
I’d tell him:
‘Sultan,
Your wild dogs have torn my clothes
Your spies hound me
Their eyes hound me
Their noses hound me
Their feet hound me
They hound me like Fate
Interrogate my wife
And take down the names of my friends,
Sultan,
When I came close to your walls
And talked about my pains,
Your soldiers beat me with their boots,
Forced me to eat my shoes.
Sultan,
You lost two wars.
Sultan,
Half of our people are without tongues,
What’s the use of people without tongues?
Half of our people
Are trapped like ants and rats
Between walls´.
If I knew I’d come to no harm
I’d tell him:
‘You lost two wars
You lost touch with children’

If we hadn’t buried our unity
If we hadn’t ripped its young body with bayonets
If it had stayed in our eyes
The dogs wouldn’t have savaged our flesh.

We want an angry generation
To plough the sky
To blow up history
To blow up our thoughts.
We want a new generation
That does not forgive mistakes
That does not bend.
We want a generation
Of giants.

Arab children,
Corn ears of the future,
You will break out chains.
Kill the opium in our heads,
Kill the illusions.
Arab children,
Don’t read about our windowless generation,
We are a hopeless case.
We are as worthless as water-melon rind.
Don’t read about us,
Don’t ape us,
Don’t accept us,
Don’t accept our ideas,
We are a nation of crooks and jugglers.
Arab children,
Spring rain,
Corn ears of the future,
You are a generation
That will overcome defeat.

Among the people going on the delegation are: author Alice Walker, musician Roger Waters, Filipino member of parliament Walden Bello, ElectronicIntifada.net founder Ali Abunimah, IPA communications director Sam Husseini and Epstein, a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust and author of “Remembering Is Not Enough.” After World War II, she worked at the Nuremberg Medical Trial, which tried the doctors accused of performing medical experiments on concentration camp inmates.

CODEPINK recently put out a statement: “Citing escalating tensions on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed us on Dec. 20 that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks, into January. We responded that there is always tension at the border because of the siege and that if there are any risks, they are risks we are willing to take. We also said that it was too late for over 1,360 delegates coming from over 42 countries to change their plans now.

“Although we consider this as a setback, it is something we’ve encountered — and overcome — before. No delegation, large or small, that has entered Gaza over the past 12 months has received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border. Most delegations were discouraged from even heading out of Cairo to Rafah. Some had their buses stopped on the way. Some have been told outright that they could not go into Gaza. But after public and political pressure, the Egyptian government changed its position and let them pass.”

The number for the Egyptian embassy in Washington, D.C. is (202) 895-5400; the contact person is Omar Youssef.

Farah, who has family in Gaza and grew up in Jerusalem, is a spokesperson for the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace. They are holding a march and vigil in downtown Washington, D.C. in solidarity with the Gaza Freedom March that involves several groups including Jewish Voice for Peace.

He said today: “As people all around the world sing ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem,’ the Palestinians in Bethlehem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian territories continue to be oppressed. Nowhere is that more bitter than in Gaza, where over 1,300 Palestinians were killed during 22 days of bombings. Living conditions in Gaza remain desperate as Israel continues to impose its siege on 1.5 million Palestinians, preventing almost anyone from leaving the strip and making it virtually impossible to rebuild or repair the thousands of homes and businesses that were demolished during the attack.”

Background: See the new report from Amnesty International, which states: “The international community has betrayed the people of Gaza by failing to back their words with effective action to secure the ending of the Israeli blockade which is preventing reconstruction and recovery, say a group of 16 leading humanitarian and human rights groups in a new report released today (22 December) ahead of the anniversary of the start of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza (27 December-18 January).” http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=18552

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020, (202) 421-6858; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167

Edward Said’s lecture on Samuel Huntington’s essay and book on the “Clash of Civilizations,” at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1996). Said, a Christian Palestinian, was one of the greatest thinkers of our time.

“Said﻿ said “the West mainly sees Islam through distorted, Orientalist, lenses. Also, correlation alone is not sufficient to prove that what you said must mean there is a ‘cultural clash’. There could be a clash in some areas, but this is created by powerful people to make Islam seem threatning so regions, like Iran, can be dominated for oil.””

We are only 3 days away from the 8th Annual National Organizers’ Conference in Chicago. This is your last chance to pre-register for the conference by clicking here. On-line registration will close at 12:00PM, Noon Eastern, Thursday, September 10. If you haven’t pre-registered for the conference by the deadline, then you can still register for the conference on-site on Saturday; however we cannot guarantee conference registration materials and Saturday night dinner for you if you register on-site. So if you are planning on coming to the conference, please register on-line right away by clicking here.

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is also excited to invite you to Speaking Out, a night of solidarity and entertainment to benefit the work of the US Campaign, Saturday, September 12! We are honored to welcome the Director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University, Professor Rashid Khalidi and Palestinian political analyst Omar Barghouti as our keynote speakers. Fr. Miguel d’Escoto, President of the UN General Assembly, will also share a special message.

Join us in Chicago, September 12-13 to help plan the future of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation!

The deadline to register on-line for the conference is Thursday, September 10th at 12:00pm, Noon Eastern. The registration fee for the conference is $60. It will include Saturday dinner, conference packets, and admission to the Saturday night key-note speeches.

If you haven’t pre-registered for the conference by tomorrow’s deadline, then you can still register for the conference on-site on Saturday; however we cannot guarantee conference registration materials and Saturday night dinner for you if you register on-site. So if you are planning on coming to the conference, please register on-line right away.

The Steering Committee is the highest decision-making body of the US Campaign between annual conferences. It is responsible for policy decisions, strategic planning, fundraising, and personnel decisions. Click here to see who has nominated themselves to serve on the US Campaign’s Steering Committee. If you would like to run or nominate someone to run for the Steering Committee, please click here – http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2340

6) Renew your organizational membership dues:If your organization has not paid its 2009 membership dues, then your conference delegates will not be able to vote for proposals or for Steering Committee members. Click here to see if your organization has paid its 2009 membership dues – http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2055

7) Our official response to Shalom International’s Call for Protest of our Conference:

It has been brought to the attention of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation that the Chicago Chapter of Shalom International will be protesting our 8th Annual National Organizers’ Conference on Sunday, September 13, at 1PM. According to their website, the protest will be taking place across the street from our conference venue.

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation strongly believes in everyone’s right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. The US Campaign is liaising with the conference venue to assure the safety and security of all conference attendees and prevent any disruptions to our conference. We have no reason to believe that the protesters will attempt to disrupt the conference or threaten the safety and security of its participants.

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation strongly urges all conference attendees to avoid any interaction with any protester during its 8th Annual National Organizers’ Conference for the following reasons:

1) The US Campaign strongly opposes any and all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism, and believes that unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism do not deserve any response or engagement on our part.

2) We have important business to take care of during our conference to advance our agenda of changing U.S. policy toward Israel/Palestine to support human rights, international law, and equality for all. Let us not divert our valuable attention and time together at our conference.

3) Protesters love to garner media attention for their actions and we all know that nothing leads to better media coverage than confrontation. Do not give the protesters the satisfaction of drawing additional attention to their cause. Ignore them.

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation would like to thank in advance all conference participants and member groups for adhering to our call not to engage protesters in any way. And we look to seeing you in Chicago on Saturday for an exciting and successful conference!

Join the Olive Branch Club and Get a Poster Signed by Desmond Tutu

At the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, we are extremely proud to have developed a strong connection with South African Nobel Peace Prize-winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu. This giant in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa has been a clear and consistent voice of conscience speaking out against Israel’s apartheid policies against Palestinians.

Archbishop Tutu endorsing our national anti-apartheid speaking tour, “Separate Is Never Equal: Stories of Apartheid from South Africa and Palestine,” held last year.

Nobel Peace Prize-winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu

We would like to send one lucky supporter an autographed copy of this poster. What’s the catch? You guessed it…to be eligible to win this poster we are asking for your financial support so that we can continue doing our important work of educating the public about Israeli apartheid; organizing campaigns of boycott, divestment, and sanctions against companies that profit from Israeli occupation; challenging U.S. military aid to Israel, and much, much more.

Here’s how it works. Join our Olive Branch Club, our regular monthly giving program. It’s safe and easy to set up-just decide the tax-deductible amount that you would like to contribute to us on a monthly basis and your credit or debit card will automatically be charged that amount once a month.

It’s a great way for you to make an ongoing contribution to sustaining our work and a great way for us to get a dedicated steady stream of donations in each month.

Join the Olive Branch Club

For each $5 donation you commit to each month, we will enter you once in a raffle to win the autographed Desmond Tutu poster. In other words, donate $10 per month to us, and we’ll enter you twice in the competition. Donate $50 per month to us and we’ll enter you ten times. You get the idea. Now, just decide upon the level that is right for you and join the Olive Branch Club today by clicking on the Olive Branch.Continue reading →

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